So far, ideas to rebuild Ground Zero lack vision

Six of one, a half-dozen of another. That sums up the six designs submitted for rebuilding the World Trade Center site. ... Most strikingly, not one of them elicits any kind of emotional response.

At two public hearings last week, more than 4,000 people told the Lower Manhattan Development Corp, a public agency created to oversee the rebuilding, what they thought of the designs. Most found them to be dull, sterile, predictable and woefully inappropriate.

City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reassured New Yorkers that the proposals were the beginning, not the end, of the process of deciding how to rebuild the site of the Twin Towers. In that case, the development corporation should scrap these designs and open the process to anyone who wants to offer a vision of downtown's future. ''Vision'' is the key word. ...

There is a legitimate argument as to whether New York City needs to rebuild all or most of the commercial space at the site of Ground Zero. Many in the business community say yes. Gov. George Pataki and former Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, two men who appreciate the economic consequences, don't think so. They think there should be a memorial to honor those who died there and those who were part of the heroic rescue and recovery effort. ...